Tuesday, January 23, 2018

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Paris Fashion Week

The Fall-Winter '18-'19 fashion season is over, and it was mildly engaging...but frankly, it felt like something was missing: a flair, an elan, a spark. Whatever is was (or wasn't), here are some highlights from the final leg of the season, Paris Fashion Week.

It has been brewing for many seasons now, but there was a new silhouette being promoted by several houses. McQueen showed a fascinating jacket that features generous shoulders and flared hips but true to McQueen's interest in classic men's tailoring, the waist nips in, creating an appealing hourglass shape. And in the hands of Sarah Burton, this does not feel feminine at all. Wonderful!

Wooyoungmi also showed garments that exemplify this new larger, looser, more casual cut of clothing. The idea behind this new silhouette is basically the destruction of the suit as a sign of masculinity or power. With the world changing so fast--a more casual business environment full of millenials, people conducting more of their business as well as personal lives on-line, and changing gender roles--the suit seems to be evolving (additionally, the suit as a business-power signifier is now being equated with unstable power hungry monsters and straight male sexual abusers). I think, as Alexander McQueen's Sarah Burton shows above, classic tailoring will always be around in some form, but Katie Chung (who just this season took over the house from her mother Woo Youngmi) shows that there is something in the air that is morphing not only how we live but how we look and express ourselves.

Now, on to the political. Vogue fashion journalist Sarah Mower was at the Sacai show in Paris and reported on the inspiration and subtext for this saturated collection:
"Why would a Japanese designer in Tokyo wish to collaborate with a Hawaiian shirt brand in Honolulu? Think about it a moment, and you realize that the citizens of both places are enduring the nuclear tension between North Korea and the United States. Chitose Abe is not a political or statement-making designer by any stretch of the imagination. Her quite terrific collection—men’s for Fall ’18 and women’s Pre-Fall shown together—was colorful and gutsy, seemingly less caught up in demonstrating the tricks of her trade than in making whole looks. Ultimately, though, she used her moment with the press to speak up for cross-cultural harmony, and you sensed why she was making a point of it now. Abe also put a T-shirt and fleece hoodie on the runway printed with the New York Times’s 'Truth . . .' slogan."TRUTH. IT'S MORE IMPORTANT NOW THAN EVER.
Amen to that.

We can always count on Walter Van Beirendonck to provoke. I like his collections not because they are lyrically pleasing to the eye or even wearable (for the most part) but because they are pleasing to the intellect and emotions. I love his technicolor, abstract art sensibility. So I share this collection not only on that level, but for the inspiration and execution of the collection. It was an unashamed exploration of gay fetish culture, featuring rubber outfits with lined holes for nipples, penises, and at the mouth to accept whatever might be put in there. The words TOP, BOTTOM, and PIG were scattered on knit tops. Gas masks and references to puppy play (if you don't know what that is kids, Google it 'cuz I'm not going to explain it to you) showed up as well. But despite all this fetish and sex talk, the collection is surprisingly UN-erotic, even with tee shirts and lycra bodysuits collaged with images of muscle men from gay porn. What I love about this particular statement is not that it is shocking to display such matters culturally, but that we are at a point now where to be shocked by such matters would be shocking. Curiously, there was also a motif that looked like cartoon doodles rendered in the style of 18th century engravings along with the phrase--which is the name of the collection--STATES EMPIRES AND WORLDS OF SUN AND MOON. A nice spiritual allusion to an otherwise visceral collection.

Over in the shoe department, Glenn Martens of Y/Project teamed with Australian footwear manufacturer Ugg to create an exaggerated version of their classic suede and sheepskin boot. Martens employed a technique to make the Ugg boot seem to be three boots worn at once, and created a thigh-high version that pools and gathers. He paired these with pants that seemed to be just as layered and pooling as the boots for a mirrored effect. Martens described this layered effect as "melting," saying "You’re not really sure where one finishes and the other begins." Frankly, I love them. I own a pair of Uggs and I always want them to be higher so I can wear them slouched or rolled down, like this. Thanks Y/Project!

Some more shoes worth mentioning: Maison (Martin) Margiela, now helmed by once-disgraced super-designer John Galliano (who seems to be doing quite well these days), showed a fantastic cloven-toed leather boot (love!)...and an odd pillow-y slipper sneaker with a drawstring.

Dior Homme, a label that has shown clothing on emaciated, seemingly barely pubescent boys sent some looks down the runway on models that have a bit of mileage on them. Thank you Kris Van Assche for celebrating the sexy, mature man!

About Me

About "Oh, By The Way"

"Oh, By The Way" is my digital scrap book of things I like, things I would share with a close friend and say: “Oh, by the way, do you know of this artist/ clothing or interior designer/ model/ singer/ actor/ gorgeous man… or, have you seen this video/ photo/ film... or heard (or do you remember) this song/ band... or, read this book/ poem/ inspiring quote... or, visited this place/ restaurant/ famous building... or, have you heard of this amazing new scientific discovery?”

I am dedicated to posting the positive, the fascinating, the beautiful, the interesting, the moving, and the inspiring and uplifting. Sometimes I post cultural as well as personal observations, milestones, and remembrances. And just like life, all of these things may often have a bit of melancholy or even sadness in them, which is what makes our time here so lovely and bittersweet and precious.

Some of the photos, art, poetry, and prose are my own original work, credited with my initials, JEF. When it isn't, I always try to post links to the original source material, but often I find photos on the web that are not linked or other material that is not sourced. In these instances, I post them without malice since it is assumed that such things, by being globally posted on something as uncontrollable as the internet to begin with, are in the public domain. If you identify the source of an image that is not linked, please politely let me know (without accusing me of theft) and I will be happy to provide a link.

I hope to inspire and entertain my readers with things that inspire and entertain me. There is a startling amount of beauty and creativity in the world and it enriches us all to participate in it.

All-time Favorite Films

2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)

After Hours (Hysterical, hair-raising ride through NYC at night)

Amelie

American Beauty (Alan Ball)

Baraka (Stunning, transcending—the "spiritus mundi" on film)

Belle et Bete (Cocteau)

Big Sleep, The (The epitome of film noir)

Bringing Up Baby (Hepburn & Grant—the epitome of screwball comedy)

Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, The (Greenaway)

Crash (Cronenberg—DIFFICULT subject, not for everyone)

Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg—ultimate modern gothic horror)

Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway)

Easy Rider

Edward II (Derek Jarman)

Erendira (From magic realist Marquez’ brilliant short story)

Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick's last film)

Fearless (Jeff Bridges—life and death)

Funny Bones (Leslie Caron, Jerry Lewis, and the brilliant Lee Evans)

Holiday (Hepburn & Grant)

Howard’s End (The ultimate statement of the unfairness of class systems)